A family of usual suspects in Hyderabad

Vicky Nanjappa reports on the travesty of the family of a Maulana, whose members find themselves on the wrong side of law every time a situation arises.

The arrest of Obaid ur Rehman from Hyderabad in connection with the assassination plot is interesting in many ways.

Obaid is the relative of Maulana Nasiruddin, one of the most controversial clerics from Hyderabad.

For the Maulana's family this has become a routine. The police coming to their doorstep and picking up members of their family is not something new to them.

It all started off with the Maulana himself, who spent a considerable amount of time in the Gujarat jail for the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya. He was, however, acquitted later.

The problems for this family worsened when Riazuddin Nasir was picked up in connection with terrorism charges. Riaz, son of the Maulana, was part of the agitation that took place in the aftermath of the Mecca Masjid blasts in Hyderabad.

He had protested the killing of his friend, Mujahid in the firing following which he was arrested. However, he was released later and then went missing, according to the police.

During this time he is said to have participated in a camp organised by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and had planned on carrying out a series of blasts in Goa. However, he was picked up by the Karnataka police when he was allegedly stealing vehicles to be used to plant the bombs.

After spending a couple of years in jail, he was taken to Gujarat as he was wanted in some cases there. He is currently lodged over there.

While both father and son were in jail, it was the other two sons -- Yasir and Jabir -- who ran their home in Hyderabad. However, the peace for the family was short-lived.

The Indore police picked up Yasir on the grounds that he had coordinated with some activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India in Madhya Pradesh. It was claimed that his name cropped up during the questioning of Safdar Nagori.

Yasir, the second son of the Maulana, is now in a jail at Indore.

A year after that arrest, the Madhya Pradesh police claimed that they had found evidence against the Maulana's youngest son, Jabir. With the help of Hyderabad Police, they picked him up too. He too is in the Indore jail.

Shortly after Jabir's arrest, the Maulana was acquitted by the court and returned to Hyderabad.

After his release from jail, he had told rediff.com, "We have been fighting for the rights of people and they think by targeting us, they will disillusion us in our fight. There are many Muslims in the country, who are looked up with respect, and the police think that they can finish us off by targeting us. The atmosphere in our society is getting spoilt due to this and this is what some people are aiming at."

"What will the Indian police gain by targeting people? At the end of the day they too know that innocent people will be acquitted and they would lose face. It is not as simple as you think. They are not working independently."

"There is pressure from the top as well as pressure from foreign countries. The Indian police know that they have a weak case on hand. The problem is that they too are acting under pressure. May be at the end of it people like us will be acquitted, but the fact remains that they manage to ruin a large part of our lives."

Today, the nightmare for the family has returned once again with the arrest of Maulana's nephew Obaid.

A second year BCom student at the Anwar Uloom college and a resident of Baba Nagar in the old City of Hyderabad, Obaid has been charged with being involved in the assassination plot, which was busted in a joint operation by the Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh police.